INFO 200-11 Information CommunitiesFall 2015 Syllabus

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 20, 6 am PDT unless you are taking an intensive or a one unit or two unit class that starts on a different day. In that case the class will open on the first day that the class meets. Course sites will close on February 28, 2016.

Course Description

Examines information users and the social, cultural, economic, technological, and political forces that shape their information access and use. The different resources and services that information professionals provide for their user communities will also be addressed as well as ethical/legal professional practice. INFO 200 meets SJSU's graduate writing assessment requirement.

Note: iSchool requires that students earn a B in this course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.

Writing RequirementIf the instructor finds that a student's writing is unacceptable, the instructor will require the student to sign up for online writing tutoring. The student will ask the tutor to confirm with the instructor that he or she is attending sessions.

Blog ReportsStudents will research and explore various topics related to their community group and report their findings on their blog. (CLOs 1, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Context Book Review/Reflective EssayStudents will read one book selected from a list provided, and write a 500 word reflection relating the topic and focus of the book to libraries or information environments, technology and the focus of our course.

Commenting, Engagement and Participation in Course Blogging CommunityStudents will demonstrate active participation and engagement through their blogs (including introductory and final reflective posts), commenting on classmates' blogs, project work, and use of the course site. A minimum of six well-articulated comments is required.

Information Sources SurveyUsing LIS guides, databases, and other relevant professional resources, students will locate and describe two information sources created for and used by the community they are studying. The survey will include a critical description of each source and an assessment its value to the community. (CLOs 1,5)

Literature ReviewStudents will write a literature review based on 10 to 12 books and articles about the community they’ve chosen to study. The literature review will assess the current research on the community by identifying the most influential authors and publications, major theories and findings, and continuing gaps. (CLOs 1,2,3)

Research PaperStudents will write a final paper based on their reading in the scholarly and professional literature and the data collected for each blog report. The final papers should include a literature review and critically assess the findings of their reports. The paper should be a minimum of 3000 words in length; the reference list should have at least 20 sources; and the formatting should follow the APA Publication Manual style (6th ed.). (CLOs 1,2,3,4)

Grading

Assignment

Points

Due Date

5 Reflective Blog Posts

20 points

Ongoing

Commenting, Engagement,and Participation in CourseBlogging Community

10 points

Ongoing

Context Book Review/Essay

10 points

Friday, September 11, 2015

Information Sources Survey

10 points

Friday, October 2, 2015

Literature Review

20 points

Friday, November 6, 2015

Research Paper

30 points

Friday, December 4, 2015

Assignment DeadlinesAssignments are due on Friday and must be submitted before midnight. Grades will be reduced for any late work, each day late, by twenty percent. Please contact me prior to a deadline in the case of illness or emergency.

Calendar

Week

Topic/Module

Assignment

1

Information communities and the social construction of knowledge: introduction

Blog Post #1: Introduce yourself. Share whatever you would like about your goals in our school and the profession as well as your background and interests. (Participation)

Blog Post #2: Describe the Information Community you are choosing to explore for the course and the research paper. Utilize Durrance and Fisher's definition and characteristics of Information Communities to describe your choice to the class.

Blog Post #3: Report on the information-seeking behavior and information needs of chosen community. Utilize theories covered in the lectures and assigned readings.

6

Community-generated information resources and services

7

User experience

Information Sources Survey Due

8

Ethical issues in information access

Blog Post #4: By comparing a peer-reviewed article with a professional article, report on your community’s perceptions of information services.

9

Legal issues in information access

10

Community informatics

Blog Post #5: Report on an ethical or legal issue pertaining to your information community. Use the modules on ethical issues and intellectual freedom as resources to define and reflect on the issue.

11

Global librarianship

12

Teaching and learning

Literature Review Due

13

Emerging technologies

Blog Post #6: From your research, report on your community’s use of emerging technologies. How do they use technology to advance the community or share information? This post could also be media-based: a video, other media, infographic.

14

Creation culture

15

Final Reflections

Blog Post #7: Personal reflection on information communities. What are you taking away from your explorations and research? What will inform your practice as an information professional? (Participation)

GWAR

INFO 200 gives students graduate-level writing experience, including a literature review and research paper. Graduate-level academic writing is formal and logical. It involves the avoidance of bias, the inclusion of evidence, and the development of strong arguments. Scholarly writing uses concise, precise, and clear language, is cohesive, and utilizes a logically organized flow of ideas. Successful completion of the research paper satisfies San José State University's Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR). If the instructor finds that a student's writing is unacceptable, the instructor will require the student to sign up for online writing tutoring. The student will ask the tutor to confirm with the instructor that he or she is attending sessions.

Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 200 has no prerequisite requirements.

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Define the concept of community within a framework of information creation, use, and exchange.

Locate, synthesize, and properly cite research and professional literature relating to specific information communities.

Describe the various theories and research devoted to information use and behavior.

Articulate prominent issues related to diversity, special populations, emerging technologies, and ethics within the context of various information communities/environments.

Identify various resources and services that information professionals utilize to serve their communities.

Identify and describe current and emerging technologies that impact the creation, use, and exchange of information within communities.

Engage and exchange across open social platforms via various media: text, audio, video.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 200 supports the following core competencies:

A Demonstrate awareness of the ethics, values, and foundational principles of one of the information professions, and discuss the importance of intellectual freedom within that profession.

C Recognize the diversity (such as cultural and economic) in the clientele and employees of an information organization and be familiar with actions the organization should take to address this diversity.

I Use service concepts, principles, and techniques to connect individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.

J Describe the fundamental concepts of information-seeking behaviors.

L Demonstrate understanding of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the ability to design a research project, and the ability to evaluate and synthesize research literature.

M Demonstrate oral and written communication skills necessary for professional work including collaboration and presentations.

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

97 to 100

A

94 to 96

A minus

91 to 93

B plus

88 to 90

B

85 to 87

B minus

82 to 84

C plus

79 to 81

C

76 to 78

C minus

73 to 75

D plus

70 to 72

D

67 to 69

D minus

Below 67

F

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;

B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class the following semester. If -on the second attempt- you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.

A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

General Expectations, Rights and Responsibilities of the Student

As members of the academic community, students accept both the rights and responsibilities incumbent upon all members of the institution. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with SJSU's policies and practices pertaining to the procedures to follow if and when questions or concerns about a class arises. See University Policy S90-5 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/S90-5.pdf. More detailed information on a variety of related topics is available in the SJSU catalog at http://info.sjsu.edu/web-dbgen/catalog/departments/LIS.html. In general, it is recommended that students begin by seeking clarification or discussing concerns with their instructor. If such conversation is not possible, or if it does not serve to address the issue, it is recommended that the student contact the Department Chair as a next step.

"Common courtesy and professional behavior dictate that you notify someone when you are recording him/her. You must obtain the instructor's permission to make audio or video recordings in this class. Such permission allows the recordings to be used for your private, study purposes only. The recordings are the intellectual property of the instructor; you have not been given any rights to reproduce or distribute the material."

It is suggested that the syllabus include the instructor's process for granting permission, whether in writing or orally and whether for the whole semester or on a class by class basis.

In classes where active participation of students or guests may be on the recording, permission of those students or guests should be obtained as well.

"Course material developed by the instructor is the intellectual property of the instructor and cannot be shared publicly without his/her approval. You may not publicly share or upload instructor generated material for this course such as exam questions, lecture notes, or homework solutions without instructor consent."

Academic integrity

Your commitment, as a student, to learning is evidenced by your enrollment at San Jose State University. The University Academic Integrity Policy F15-7 at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/docs/F15-7.pdf requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The Student Conduct and Ethical Development website is available at http://www.sjsu.edu/studentconduct/.

Campus Policy in Compliance with the American Disabilities Act

If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability, or if you need to make special arrangements in case the building must be evacuated, please make an appointment with me as soon as possible, or see me during office hours. Presidential Directive 97-03 at http://www.sjsu.edu/president/docs/directives/PD_1997-03.pdf requires that students with disabilities requesting accommodations must register with the Accessible Education Center (AEC) at http://www.sjsu.edu/aec to establish a record of their disability.